What is the Green Card Lottery / Diversity Visa Lottery Program?
Each year, 50,000 immigrant visas (Green Cards) are made available through a visa lottery to people who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. None of these visas (Green Cards) are available for people who come from countries that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the past five years. If you receive a visa through the Green Card Lottery / Diversity Visa Lottery Program, you will obtain a Green Card and be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. You will also be allowed to bring your wife or husband and any unmarried children under the age of 21 to the United States. The State Department holds the Green Card Lottery / Diversity Visa Lottery every year, and randomly selects applicants from all qualified entries. Because it is likely that some of the first 50,000 persons who are selected will not qualify for visas or pursue their cases to visa / Green Card issuance, more than 50,000 entries are selected to
